The present invention relates to a system and method for facilitating the sale and shipment of cores. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for facilitating the sale and shipment of cores from a plurality of vendors to a purchaser that utilizes a host processor and at least one consolidation center where cores are inspected and packaged for shipment to the purchaser as a single delivery.
A substantial worldwide market exists for certain remanufactured motor vehicle parts including, for example, anti-lock braking system (ABS) units, air-conditioning compressors, air flow sensors, alternators, rotors, stators, brake boosters and hydroboosts, brake shoes, brake calipers, catalytic converters, clutches, and clutch plates, cruise control transducers, distributors, electronic control modules, electronic controls and instruments, electronic cruise servos, engines, heads, crank shafts and cam shafts, front wheel drive axles, front wheel drive shafts, late master cylinders, power steering pumps, rack and pinion units (power and manual), radiator fan motors, smog pumps, spark controls, starters, armatures and drives, steering gear boxes (power and manual), struts, transmissions and converters, turbochargers, water pumps, window lift motors and wiper motors. To meet market demands, remanufacturers of such motor vehicle parts must frequently purchase a supply of used motor vehicle parts, which are known as xe2x80x9ccoresxe2x80x9d in the industry, from one or more vendors for use in the remanufacturing processes.
Traditionally, business transactions between vendors of cores and purchasers of cores have been somewhat primitive. Typically, purchasers contact a number of known vendors by telephone or facsimile and provide them with a description of their current core needs, which sometimes includes a listing of hundreds of Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) numbers. Responses to the purchasers"" requests trickle in over several weeks because many smaller vendors have no modern inventory systems and must make physical counts of their core inventory. In some instances, vendors of cores simply do not respond to the purchasers"" requests. After receiving a sufficient number of responses from vendors, the purchasers make purchasing decisions based upon such factors as the quantities of parts available, the prices quoted by the core vendors, and the reliability of the particular core vendor. Usually, cores are then shipped to the purchasers from a number of vendors, which results in numerous invoices and deliveries coming in over several weeks.
This traditional manner of transacting business in the core industry is inherently disadvantageous for both the vendors and purchasers of cores. From the purchasers"" perspective, the process is time consuming because it takes considerable time to: (1) receive an adequate number of responses from vendors; (2) make a purchasing decision; (3) execute purchase agreements with a number of different vendors: and (4) receive shipments from a number of different vendors. Additionally, the traditional manner of transacting business places additional pressure on purchasers to carefully monitor the numerous individual shipments coming in from vendors so that proper credits can be obtained for broken units, improperly identified units, short shipments, and the like.
From the vendors"" perspective, the traditional manner of transacting business is also disadvantageous because it requires vendors to quickly respond to numerous requests from a number of purchasers in order to optimize the chances of making a sale. The vendor can sometimes be put into an awkward position if, for example, two or more different purchasers of cores to whom the vendor has responded then place an order the same cores. Furthermore, because vendors have a limited market for their cores, unless they are fortunate to receive requests from purchasers, they must invest time and effort to repeatedly solicit purchasers who may or may not be in need of the cores a particular vendor may have in inventory at any given time.
Several recent trends in the motor vehicle industry have had a profound effect on the core market. The rapid increase in the technological sophistication of motor vehicles over the past decade has driven many small remanufacturing companies out of certain markets. Also, there has been an increase in the number of national chain-type motor vehicle parts retailers. The companies selling remanufactured parts to these national chain-type motor vehicle parts retailers have been growing increasingly larger and have purchased many of their smaller competitors. Accordingly, the purchasing side of the core market is now dominated by a few relatively large remanufacturing companies.
Although the large remanufacturing companies need large volumes of cores to satisfy market demands, they prefer to transact business with as few core vendors as possible in order to minimize the number of individual shipments received, invoices, and other administrative complexities that result when a large number of vendors are shipping a variety of cores to them. Because larger core vendors have the ability to supply larger volumes of cores to larger remanufacturers than smaller core vendors can, there has been a growing preference among larger remanufacturers to transact business almost exclusively with the larger core vendors. The limited market for cores coupled with the preference of the larger remanufacturers to transact business with larger core vendors has forced many of the smaller core vendors to either go out of business or begin selling their cores to the larger core vendors well below the price currently being paid by remanufacturers to purchase such cores on the open market. This situation essentially prevents smaller vendors of cores from growing their business. A system is needed that would advantageously permit core vendors and remanufacturers of all sizes to quickly and efficiently transact business with each other.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for facilitating the sale and shipment of cores. The system according to the present invention comprises a host processor having means for storing and processing data supplied by a plurality of vendors relating to the type and quantity of cores each of the vendors has available for sale. The system further comprises means for transferring said data from said host processor over a data link to a remote terminal for display to a purchaser of cores. The system further comprises means for said host processor to receive an order from said purchaser to purchase at least one of said cores displayed as available for sale on said remote terminal. The system further comprises at least one consolidation center having means for inspecting cores received from the vendors and means for packaging the cores for shipment to the purchaser according to a set of instructions generated in response to the order. The system also comprises means for generating an invoice to the purchaser for the cores included in the order.
The method according to the present invention comprises: providing a host processor having means for storing and processing data supplied by a plurality of vendors relating to the type and quantity of cores each of the vendors has available for sale; displaying the data to a purchaser on a remote terminal that is in communication with the host processor via a data link; processing an order received from the purchaser to purchase one or more cores; notifying the purchaser and each of the vendors of a core that is included as part of said order that a sale has been made; providing at least one consolidation center for receiving the cores from the vendors; inspecting and repackaging the cores at the consolidation center according to a set of instructions generated by the host processor in response to the order; generating a single invoice for the order; and delivering the order to said purchaser as a single delivery. The method according to the present invention advantageously permits core vendors and remanufacturers of all sizes to quickly and efficiently transact business with each other.